Apparatus for cleaning book-covers and the like



J. E. CROSS.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING BOOK COVERS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. I920.

SHEETS-SHEET I.

1 387,884. Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

1 Ina en tar Attorney new and useful Improvement in Apparatus QJ Y E. cnoss, onTAKoMArAnK, MARYLAND.

' rrAnAirUs non; CLEANING Boon-COVERS AND THE IlIKE.

Application filed May 27,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAY E. Cnoss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Takoma Park, in the county. of Montgomery ant State of Maryland, have invented a certain for Cleaning Book-Covers and thelike, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In the manufacture of'book covers and the like, upon which titles and other markings are done in gold, silver and other metal leaf or foll, 1t 1s essential to the economical and proper accomplishment of such marking that all surplus metal leaf be removed-from the articles and recovered for future use.

Numerous devlces and machines have been produced for performing this. process of" cleaning off and recovering the metal leaf or foil, but, owing to various imperfectionsin design and operation, they have failed coinmercially to supplant reciable extent.

The object of this invention is to provide hand-work to any apa machine which will as nearly as possible simulate the old hand methodrof cleaning book covers and the like, wherebythe work may be greatly expedited. without in any way sacrificing the quality of the work performed to the increased speed ofproduction of the finished" article, and; moreover, in addition to my machine performing the work as well, if not better, thanit can be done by hand, it 'eliminatesthe lossfof the particles of goldv leaf, which loss, during'the cleaning by hand, is almost impossible to avoid, and also prevents-particles of other metal foil or material usedfrom being scattered or carried about in the airl'as a menace to'health. 7, 1

The invention consists in a machine; for cleaning book covers and the like, 'comp'ris ing a-substantially normally closed chamber in which are mounted means for feeding the book covers or the like through the machine and devices for. rubbing or brushing the covers as they are fed, the'chamber being connected with apparatus for creating a suction therein whereby all surplus metal leaf is removed from the chamber and conveyed to and deposited in a proper receptacle, all

' as I will proceed'now to explain andfinally claim. H I; r. In the accompany ng drawmgs llustrat- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 16, 1921.

19 20. 1 serial in. 384,707. 1

ing the invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure l is a side view of the machine. Fig. 2 is an end View thereof. Fig. 3 is a partial sectional plan view, on a-larger scale, of the feeding and cleaning devices and their operating mechanism, the top plate of the chamber being removed. Fig. 4 is a partial sectional side view, on a still larger scale',of

the parts shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 5 is a section taken in the plane of line 55 of Fig- 4. Fig. 6 is a section somewhat similarto that shown in Fig. 5 and illustrating a modified form of cleaning device.

The machine comprises a stand 1 upon which are mounted the frame 2 and a motor 3 and power shaft 4 driven by the motor.

Upon the frame 2 is supported the casing or Working chamber 5 having a top 6 and bed 6 provided with recesses 7 in which are.

mounted resilient feed rollers 8' of rubber or the like frictional resilient material. The

' shafts 9 of these rollers extend from side to side of the chamber and are journaled in thesesides, as shown at 10, Fig. 3. All of the shafts 9 extend outside of the chamber at one side and are provided withbevel-pinions 11 which mesh with complementary bevelgears12 mounted'o'n a shaft 13 supported suitable bearings 14: carried by the chamber One end of shaft 13 carries a gear 15 whichis driven by a gear 16 on shaft 17 which shaft is in turn driven from-the, power 1 shaft 4 by means of a belt '18 and stepped pulleys l9 and 20.' By this arrangement it will be seen that the'speed of the feed rollers 8 and the resulting rapidity of feed of the book covers or other articles through the machine may be varied to suit the operating conditions, as desired. 1 l

Mounted within the chamber 5 is, a frame 21 which carries a plurality of contact rollers 22 havingtheir axes in vertical alinement with the axes of the feed rollers '8 and this frame is provided with tensioning devices comprising bolts-23 which pass through the bottom 24 of the chamber 5 andare fitted with springs 25 and adjusting nuts 26 whereby any desired pressure of the rollers Between the rollers 8 and '22 and extend-.

ing the full length of-the" chamber '5 is a fiat strip 27 adapted to support the thin able in the machine.

Another frame 28 similar to the frame 21 is also mounted in the chamber 5 above the frame 21, this frame 28 being supported for vertical adjustment by means of screws 29,

(see Figs. 4 and 5), and this frame carries a plurality of parallel rods or guides 30 which support, by means of bearing lugs 31, the holders 32 for the. cleaning devices. By means of the screws 29 the pressure of the cleaning devices upon the book covers or other articles to be cleaned may be varied as desired.

Each holder 32 has a pivot joint 33 at its end in which is pivoted one end of a connecting link 34 working in an adjustable slotted plate 34 and having its other end pivoted to an eccentric strap 35 which encircles an eccentric 36 and is held in alinement thereon by a set-screw 37 working in aperipheral slot 38 in the eccentric. The plates 34 are made adjustable so as to accommodate the adjustment of the frame 28 by the screws 29.

All of these eccentrics 36 are mounted on a shaft 39 but at various angles with relation to each other, and this shaft 39 is driven from the power shaft 4 through a belt 40 and pulleys 41 and 42, described more in detail hereinafter. By this arrangement it will be seen that the holders 32 andwith them the cleaning devices, presently described, are given a reciprocatory movement transversely of the machine.

In practiceI have found that there are two sorts of cleaning devices especially adapted for this work. One is a brush 43 (see Fig. 4) made of fiber or wire according to the material operated upon, and the other is arubbing device 44 (see Fig. 6) madeof blocks 45 of rubber or other mild abrasive substance, and in order to make the machine capable of use with either, I have developed the holders 32 above mentioned.

Each holder 32 comprises a pair of channel members 46 spaced apart and connected at one end as shown at 47 its other end being provided with slots 48 in which is seated a plate 49 provided with a pair of adjusting or clamping screws 50 having lock nuts 50 (see Fig. 6). V

The brushes 43 orrrubbing devices 44 are made with grooved sides 51 of such contour as to form a snug sliding fit with the channel members 46 of the holders.

t will be noted, by reference to Fig. 4, that the side of the chamber opposite to the eccentrics is provided with a plurality of openings 52, one in line with each holder 32.

are replaced and the screws 50 run inuntil they firmly clamp the brushes or rubbing devices against the ends 47 of the holders, the lock nuts 48 being then tightened down against the plates 49 to maintain this adjustment.

I have found that in operating the machine with the rubbing devices 44 instead of the brushes, it is Well not to have them move over the work quite as rapidly as the brushes are operated, and forv making this.

change in speed of reciprocation of the hold ers 32, I make the pulleys 41 and 42 with steps for one shift so that when the belt is changed from one step to the other a corresponding change in speed of reciprocation of the holders will be accomplished.

As hereinbefore stated, the chamber 5 is practically normally a closed chamber and to the bottom of this chamber I connect the suction pipe 53 of a fan 54 driven by a belt and pulley arrangement 54 or the like from shaft 4. The outlet 55 of this fan leads to a settling box 56 connected by a chute 57 with a collection receptacle 58. By this arrangement all of the metal leaf or foil which is removed from the articles operated on will be exhausted from the chamber 5 and finally deposited in the receptacle 58 from which it may be emptied from time to time as required. 1

In operation, the book covers or the like are placed uponthe table 59 with the side which is to be operated upon up and the connecting member of the backeportion of the cover lying over the strip 27. This makes the whole surface to be operated upon lie in substantially one and the same plane. The cover is then moved into the chamber until it is caught and fed by the feed rollers 8 and from then to the end of the cleaning operation when the cover emerges clean from the opposite end of the machinethe operation is automatic, the brushes or rubbing devices traveling transverselyback and forth across the exposed surface of the cover removing all superfluous foil or leaf and this latter being caught up by the suction fan and deposited in the collection receptacle.

It is to be understood that I do not consider myinvention as limited to the-specific embodiment herein shown and described, as it is obvious that various changes may be made in details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

lVhat I claim is v 1. In an apparatus for cleaning book covers and the like, a feed mechanism comprising a plurality of resilient feed rollers and pressure rollers cooperating therewith for conveying the book covers through the machine, and a plurality of cleaning dev1ces having a reciprocatory motion in a having a reciprocatory motion thereover in 7 sure rollers cooperating with said feed roll a direction transverse to theldirection of feed thereof.

3. In a machine for cleaning book covers and the like, a casing, a stationary bed mounted therein and upon which said covers aresupported, a plurality of feed rollers in said bed for propelling the covers through the machine, a frame mounted in said casing and carrying a plurality of presers, said frame being normally springpressed toward said bed, a second frame mounted in the casing and adjustably supporting a plurality of cleaning devices, means for-imparting rotary motion to said feed rollers, and means for imparting reciprocatory motion to said cleaning devices.

4. In a machine for cleaning book covers and the like, a casing formmg a substantially closed chamber, means for treating the covers through said chamber; cleaning devices located in said chamber and having a r'eciprocatory f motion in a die rection transverse to the direction of feed of the covers, whereby any surplus metal foil or the like is removed from the covers, and foil recovering means includ ing suction apparatus communicating with said chamber and adapted to remove therefrom all foil cleaned from said covers.

5. In a machine for cleaning book covers and the like, a bed,a plurality of feed rolle ers located therein, a frame, a plurality of pressure rollers mounted therein and cooperating with said .feed rollers to feed book covers through the machine, resilient connections between said frame and bed for normally drawing the frame toward the bed, a second frame carrying a plurality of cleaning devices in such manner as to permit transverse reciprocation thereof, means for adjusting said last-mentioned frame toward and away from said bed, means for imparting rotary motion to said feed rollers, and means for imparting reciprocatory motion to said cleaning devices. I

6. In a device for cleaning book covers.

andthe like, a bed on which said covers are supported during the cleaning operation, and a strip running the length of said bed and having its upper face in a plane above the plane of said bed, whereby as said covers are supported on said bed their flexible back portions will be supported by said strip in the same plane as the upper faces of their side portions.

7 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set w my hand this 26th day of May, A. D. 1920.

' JAY E. CROSS. Witnesses:

W. H; FINCKEL, Jr., LILLrE M. KEELER.

Corrections in Letters Patent No. 1,387,884.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 0. 1,387,884, granted August 16,. 1921, upon the application of Jay E. Cross, of Takoma Park, Maryland, for an improvement in Apparatus for Cleaning Book-Covers and the like, errors appear" in the printed specification requiring correction asfollows: Page 3, line 42, claim. 4, for the word treating read feeding, and line 43, after the Word chamber strike out the semicolon and insert a comma; and that the said Letters Patent; should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform. to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of September, A. D., 1921.

KARL FENNING,

Acting Commissioner of Patent8-..

[SEAL] 

